Valentine’s Day is the perfect opportunity to introduce engaging and meaningful activities into the ESL classroom. Focusing on themes of love, relationships, and emotions, these activities are tailored to suit both teenagers and adults. Below, I’ll share a collection of resources and ideas we’ve developed, perfect for sparking conversation, building vocabulary, and inspiring creative thinking in your students.
1. “All You Need is Love” (A2–B1 Level)
This resource is designed to introduce pre-intermediate and intermediate students to love-related vocabulary and encourage them to use English to talk about emotions and relationships.
Activities included:
- Vocabulary : Students complete prompts like “Write three words you use to call someone you love».
- Crossword Puzzle: A fun way to reinforce vocabulary while improving students’ spelling and word recognition.
- Rearranging a Love Story: Students piece together a disorganized story about a romantic encounter, promoting logical thinking and comprehension.
- Love Match Activity: Students match fictional dating profiles based on shared interests, sparking discussion about compatibility.
This resource offers a balance of language practice and fun, making it perfect for younger learners.
2. “Speak from the Heart” (B2–C1 Level)
Ideal for more advanced learners, this resource dives into idiomatic expressions, phrasal verbs, and creative discussions centered around love and relationships.
Activities included:
- Idioms Matching: Students pair idioms such as “to wear your heart on your sleeve” with their meanings and use them in sentences.
- Phrasal Verb Dominoes: A dynamic game where students match phrasal verbs like “to drift apart” and “to settle down” with their definitions.
- Giving Advice: Students provide advice to fictional characters experiencing love-related problems, encouraging critical thinking and use of target language.
- Celebrity Love Match: Students match famous couples with facts about their relationships, making the activity fun and culturally relevant.
This resource combines language skill-building with creativity and analysis, perfect for mature students.
3. Literary Exploration: “The Nightingale and the Rose”
Oscar Wilde’s classic short story is perfect for Valentine’s Day, with its themes of love, sacrifice, and materialism.
Download the short stor here:
Activities included:
- Pre-Reading Vocabulary: Words like “lament,” “thorn,” and “sacrifice” are introduced through matching and sentence-building tasks.
- Comprehension Questions: Students answer questions about the story’s events, such as “Why did the Nightingale sacrifice herself?”
- Character Traits Sorting: Students categorize adjectives (e.g., selfless, superficial, brave) into columns for the Nightingale, the Student, and the girl.
- Writing Tasks: Students write an alternative ending, a letter from the Student to the Nightingale, or a modern retelling of the story.
This resource is perfect for encouraging critical thinking and emotional engagement.
4. Free Resource: Iconic Fictional Couples Activity
This simple activity is great for quick Valentine’s Day fun. Students match iconic fictional couples from TV series and films (e.g., Ross & Rachel, Jack & Rose) with descriptions or famous quotes.
With these resources, your Valentine’s Day lesson will be both educational and memorable for your students. Which activity will you try first? Let us know how it goes!